


The Fox and The Hound

by reptilianraven



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Sadstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-27 16:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/664029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reptilianraven/pseuds/reptilianraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"John, You're my best friend."</p><p>"And you're mine too Dave."</p><p>"And we'll be friends forever won't we?"</p><p>"Yeah, forever."</p><p>---</p><p>When you're a kid, forever doesn't seem so scary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fox and The Hound

**Author's Note:**

> im not sure if this is sadstuck or not please help
> 
> EDIT: somebody requested that this should have a sadstuck tag so i made it happen. there is now a sadstuck tag thank u

It starts with a stray piece of red thread.

Right now a small black haired, blue eyed boy named John Egbert is on the edge of his metaphorical seat due to curiosity. The said boy is running around in the grass when out of nowhere, instead of seeing green he sees red. On closer inspection he sees that the red is a red string.

He inspects the string with his tiny, slightly dirtied up hands.

“Dad, I’m gonna go for a bit!” He shouts to a man nearby, he is dressed in a modest polo shirt, black tie and finished off with a fedora.

“Where are you going?” He approaches him, crouching down a bit to his level.

John raises up the red string in his hand. “I have to figure out where this thing goes!” He exclaims excitedly.

“Well alright, as long as you don’t go too far.”

“I will go as far as this string takes me,” John says. “It’s like that one story you told me, the red string of fate thingo.”

“Who knows, you might find your soulmate.” The man chuckles and gives John a pat on the back.

John is only six years old but he pretends not to blush.

He starts following the trail left by the string, he walks while staring intently down at the red thread. John eventually notices that the thread is being pulled along by something so he quickens his pace

“Hey, kid!” John doesn’t lift his head to see who is addressing him. “What are you lookin’ for?” John then realizes that not acknowledging this person is rude and his father would scold him for it.

He raises quickly his head up to see a pale, freckled blonde haired boy with weird pointy shades that look to big for his face and a red cape around his neck. John’s eyes go back to the thread.

“I’m on the trail of something.” He says as he walks and he sees that the blonde boy is walking backwards in front of him.

“Trail of…what?” He asks him and John sees the thread shift a bit.

“I don’t know yet.” The thread shifts even more and John grabs it in his hands. He feels it getting pulled out of his hands and he pulls it back and he meets resistance. When he looks up he sees that the red thread is attached to the blonde kid’s cape.

“Oh,” John lets go of the string. “It’s you.”

“Well okay,” The blonde kid says. “My name’s Dave. What’s your name kid?”

“Mine’s John.” He tells Dave as he reaches for his cape.

“Hey! Don’t touch the cape.” Dave quickly snatches it out of John’s hands.

“Why not?” John sits down on the grass.

“This is a special cape, it’s a knight’s cape.” He says. It was more of a mumble though, John had to lean forward a bit to hear it.

“I’m pretty sure knight’s don’t have capes, they have armor and swords.”

“No, you’re just bein dumb.” He tells him defiantly. “Knight’s have capes and you’re just dumb.”

“Okay, okay! knight’s have capes,” John surrenders. “But I’m not dumb.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove what?”

“That you’re not dumb obviously.” John thinks that Dave rolled his eyes but he can’t see because of those dumb shades.

“I’m starting school soon, so that means I’m not dumb.” He answers.

“Well I’m starting school soon too so you’re answer doesn’t work.” 

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” John stands up, getting a bit annoyed.

“Course it makes sense.” Dave turns back to walk away.

John runs out of comebacks. “Your shades are dumb!”

He turns around. “You did not.” John covers his mouth when he realizes that he might have actually insulted him.

Six year olds don’t exactly fight very well, neither do they inflict actual life threatening wounds on each other. But for both of the boys it was probably one of the most intense battles of their entire life.

By the time they’re done with their fight, John has a scraped knee a few splinters in his hands and Dave has a bruise on his arm and a dirtied up cape. They sit next to each other as they nurse their battle scars.

“Sorry for touching your cape,” John starts. “And for making fun of your shades.”

“Uh well sorry for callin ya dumb and starting a fight.” Dave replies. “Do you wanna be friends?”

“Sure.” He tells him. “Do you wanna play or something? You can be a Knight.”

“Okay but what’ll you be?” He asks.

“I dunno, I’ll just be John I guess.” John picks at his knee.

“But that’s boring you have to be something.”

“Fine I’ll be a Ghostbuster.” 

“A Knight and a Ghostbuster,” Dave ponders. “Yeah that sounds aight.”

The Knight and the Ghostbuster embark on adventure to scare off every pigeon in the vicinity and once both of them are tired and all the pigeons have flown away, the sky is orange and the sun is setting. John decides that he should go back to his Dad and Dave comes with him.

“Dave, you’re my best friend.” John says out of nowhere, he didn't exactly have many friends. 

“And you’re mine too, John.”

“And we’ll be friends forever right?”

“Yeah, forever.”

John didn’t notice how Dave hesitated a bit.

“John! There you are,” John is suddenly scooped into the arms of his father. “Where have you been? I told you not to go too far.”

“Sorry…..” John looks at Dave and Dad notices.

“And who is this?” He asks Dave.

“That’s Dave! He’s my best friend.” He says.

John’s father crouches down to Dave’s height. “Where are your parents?” 

“Don’t have parents,” Dave looks at his feet. “I got my Bro though and I think I should probably get back to him or he might get mad or something.”

“Do you need any help getting back to him?”

“No I’m fine.” He says. “See ya later John!” He starts walking away.

“Wait where will I see you?” John asks him as his father puts him down and stands up.

“Well we’re both starting school soon,” He tells him. “Plus you haven’t proved to me that you aren’t stupid yet.” Dave snickers.

“Oh I’ll prove it alright!”

\-----

“Soooooo Dave,” John slings his arm around Dave’s neck. “Dave, Davey, Daver McDavidson.”

“Johnver McJohnidson.” Dave says back. “I’m calling you that from now on.”

Already seventeen years old but they still act like kids. Not that anybody is complaining.

“Call me that and I will piss on your turn tables while you sleep.” 

“Oh Johnver McJohnidson how ungentlemanly of you!” Dave says dramatically. “Pissing on the belongings of a kind man who offered to walk you home.”

John punches him in the shoulder and Dave pretends not to wince a bit. Dave silently wonders when John turned from a lanky mess of awkward into a mangritty, hammer arm wielding, slightly taller than him teen.

“Okay first off you didn’t offer to walk me home, you just started following me you dork, I think I should file a restraining order.” He says. “And I have got a really important question for you!”

Dave is now suddenly interested. “What question?”

This is where John hesitates a bit.

John is seventeen and for a good long time he has been in love with his best friend. He used to think that it was a passing thing that would fade away along with hormones and awkward growth spurts and braces. But once he grew into himself and his teeth were relatively aligned, his feelings remained.

John’s question is “Wanna be my prom date?”

He thinks that this might be the stupidest thing he might ever do but he thinks that he’s prepared. If ever that plan backfires then John would just say something along the lines of “It’s gonna be the greatest prank ever!” and if _that_ backfires then he will just take everything back and say that he was joking. He even had a plan C just in case all of the above backfired.

Now all he has to do is ask.

“Uh well I was just wondering if…..” He trails off.

“Wondering what?” Dave urges.

John is hesitating and Dave really wants to hear the end of that sentence.

Dave is seventeen and for a fair amount of time he has been in love with his best friend. He used to think that those feelings would go away if he just rapped it away or drowned it in music or if he just ignored it completely. Once he had made a high number of music mixes he then realized that those feelings weren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Prom is nearing and despite all his talk about not giving a shit about it, a huge part of him is hopeful over what that “important question” might be.

Dave thinks it’s a long shot.

John thinks so too.

It might have been one or the other but it doesn’t matter because the question on John’s mind doesn’t quite come out as he planned.

“I was just wondering who your prom date was?” Close enough, John thinks.

The hope in Dave decreases a bit but it doesn’t completely drain out.

John didn’t ask him to be his date but he didn’t say he was taken yet as well. But John is asking if he has a date meaning that John already has an expectation that Dave would have a date. The real question here is if Dave is man enough to take the risk to ask him. Is he going to be the hero today to save himself?

Something echoes through his ears, it’s vague and blurry and he feels like it is from universes away from a different time with a different story and a different Dave.

TG: im not a hero

“I’m just gonna go with Rose or something, turns out she can’t find a date either.”

John feels like he got stabbed through the heart.

He goes with plan C.

“Oh well I’m going with Vriska!” He thinks he said that too loudly. 

“Tell Serket that I offer her my deepest condolences because she’ll be spending an entire night dealing with your skinny ass.” Dave quips and honestly he thinks that he should congratulate Vriska.

“Hey my ass is not skinny!”

“Honey your ass is so skinny I get paper cuts just looking at that poor thing.”

“You’ve been staring at my ass.” John does an over dramatic gasp.

The entire walk back to John’s house is filled with their normal type of conversations, both of them talking like the other didn’t indirectly hurt the other. When they get to his house Dave says goodbye and John does too.

\---

TG: rose

TG: kanaya is your prom date right

TG: well prepare to have two dates because im joining

TG: youre gonna be like some kinda pimp

\---

EB: hey vriska!!!!!!!!

EB: I hope it’s not too late to ask you out to prom?

\-----

“College.” John says.

“College.” Dave says.

Dave sits down on John’s bed with John on his computer and Dave on his phone, both browsing college sites.

After years of preliminary education that will have close to no real life application, they both have to choose what they want to study for the next four years and that will more or less tell the success of their future.

They both think that it is ridiculous to put such a choice on anybody.

“Do you have anything in mind for yourself yet?” Dave asks.

“No clue,” John sighs and leans back in his computer chair. “Rose is going to that fancy shmancy psychology college in New York, Jade is off to Europe on an engineering scholarship,” He says. “And I’m here with no plan at all.”

“You and me both brother.”

“I mean my Dad keeps on saying that he would support me where ever I go but I can practically feel that he’s getting disappointed.” 

“Hey,” Dave stands and walks over to the chair. “Don’t say that, you’re an awesome person and you’re Dad loves the shit outta you,” He ruffles John’s hair. “Just think about what you want to do in the future or something then just pin for that.”

“But I don’t know what I want to do.”

“How about your interests? You’re a straight A student in science, you could easily be accepted into any science college.”

“I guess so…..plus I do like herpetology a bit.” John says with more of a hopeful tone to his voice.

“Well then there you go,” Dave ruffles his hair, making it messier. “You’re going to be like one of those National Geographic douchebags.”

“Well I’m going to try looking at some biology courses then,” He says. “How about you?”

“Oh I’m,” He stutters a bit. “I’m going to study film and directing.” 

Nobody says it but both of them know that they won’t be so close together if they are going to follow the courses they want.

Nobody says it because saying it will bring them to reality.

Nobody says that reality is scary.

“Okay all this college talk gave me an idea,” John stands then sits down on his bed. “We have to make a pact.”

“A pact?” Dave follows to where he is sitting. “What kind of pact?”

“A pact that we aren’t going to forget each other duh,” John takes Dave’s hand and links his pinky with his own. “We have to promise that no matter what, no matter where we go, no matter how much we change---“

“Did you write this speech down or something?” Dave says in an attempt to lighten up the now serious mood.

When college happens, best friends separate. It’s a fact of life that tends to slap people in the face too late and honestly Dave does not want to think about it.

Both eighteen years old and both of them still have their feelings for each other.

It isn’t a good equation.

“Dave shut up I’m trying to solemn here,” John says. “Anyways, no matter how much we change both of us have to promise that we are always going to be friends and that we will never forget each other,” He looks Dave straight in the eyes. “Now promise.”

Dave considers jokingly avoiding the subject as a whole but with John staring at him like that he feel like he just can’t.

“Okay,” Dave says. “I promise.”

Both of them promise.

They both go to the colleges they want. Days pass then months. Then before they know it a year has passed. But as time passes, people get busy. Pesterlog messages are never replied to, phone calls are never answered. That’s what time does.

They grow up.

A promise is left broken and they move on.

\-----

It ends with a party.

One of those fancy, invite only, award after parties.

Dave Strider, world famous director of the SBaHJ movie series just got his first award. He came out of nowhere with one of the most successful blockbuster hits the world has ever seen.

John Egbert, world famous comedian, hosted the award show.

Both of them knew about the others success. Both of them were constantly reminded of how they grew apart. Both of them still felt something for each other.

They didn’t think they would meet again.

They bump into each other, John slips and Dave didn’t see him coming and the collision causes Dave to spill on appletini on himself.

“Holy shit I am so sorr---“ John recognizes that blonde hair and when Dave looks up he nearly has a heart attack. “Dave?”

It takes Dave a minute to remember who exactly he is talking to.

“John?”

Memories flood back.

“Dave oh my god!” John sweeps him into a rib crushing hug and Dave can’t help but laugh. “Shit I missed you, I haven’t seen you in forever!” 

Dave is stunned but he hugs back “Jesus christ it’s nice to see you too John.” He says peels John off of him. “Geez Egbert, how’s it been?”

“Well gosh, I’ve been doing fine.” John says sheepishly as they walk to a less crowded area. “You obviously seem to be doing fine too, Mr. Hotshot movie director,” He laughs. “Congrats on the win.”

“Hey congrats to you too, you did a great job hosting this shebang.” Dave says as he takes two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. “I gotta ask though, how d’you get to become a comedian, I thought you were studying biology.” He hands one glass to John.

“Oh I kinda dropped out,” He sips his champagne. “It got a bit boring after a while but hey I’m pretty good now so what the hell.” John smiles and Dave feels his heart jump.

John leans back against a wall and Dave stands near him and a terrible silence takes over their conversation. 

“We never really kept in touch huh.” John says

“I guess we didn’t” Dave says. “But I’m pretty sure that that’s an inevitability that comes along with time you know.” He gulps down the rest of his drink. 

John senses the awkward atmosphere he just created. “Well what matters is that we’re here now,” He says. “And I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

John grabs Dave’s arm and pulls him along with him.

It doesn’t matter how old they both are because they spend the night acting like little shits. They put buckets of water on top of ajar doors. They prank call random people on Dave’s contact list. They do a whole lot of stuff but they can’t remember the rest of it because all the while they were simultaneously getting drunk.

Both of them don’t know how, but they managed to get lost in whoever’s house they are in.

They trip and stumble along some hallway, laughing and giggling all the way. Somehow after that they end up in a bathroom.

“Remember that one time when we were 14.” John slurs as he sits down on the counter of the sinks.

“A lot of stuff happened when we were 14,” Dave says as he removes his shades and clips them on his collar. “You gotta elaborate a bit.” 

“That one time when you decided to be an evil piece of fuck.” John says. 

“I’m always like that.” Dave smiles and John tries to hit him but he misses.

“You hid a bunch of speakers in my room and you blasted Gangam Style whenever I fell asleep but when I would wake up you would turn it off,” He says. “I had fucking nightmares, I thought was going insane.”

“Yeah but I did confess to doing it though,” He sits down next to him. “Then you punched me.” 

“Oh yeah, I broke your nose right?” John leans on Dave’s shoulder as he recalls.

“Yeah you did you asshole.” Dave says and John laughs. 

John turns to Dave and he looks at the freckles on his face, he looks at how nice his eyes look. He wonders how Dave’s face got so close to his.

John moves in too close and Dave leans his head downward a bit. They hesitate. But both of them still want this. Years may have passed and they might have changed but

But nobody really forgets their first love.

The kiss is messy and sloppy and has more teeth than the both of them would have wanted, but it’s fueled by feelings that were choked down and suffocated and they want more. Hands wander, ties are loosened, some clothing comes off, Dave’s shoe slips off at some point and so does John’s glasses.

It feels good for the both of them. Why wouldn't it feel good? They finally had the chance to have somebody they wanted for such a long time. But for some reason it doesn't feel as good as they wanted it to. The both of them would have done anything to get this years ago.

But that was years ago, and time has passed.

At some point one of them realizes that this won’t work.

John pushes Dave away by the shoulders and he rests his head on his shoulder, panting a bit.

“We can’t do this.” John says and he feels like it hurt so much more than anything he has ever said.

“Why not?” Dave says and his voice cracks and John can feel that the reply was so vulnerable.

John sighs and he doesn’t want to look Dave in the eye. Not now. Not when he knows how fragile the both of them currently are.

“You know why.”

He does know why.

Both of them know why. It’s the reason why they were such good friends, the reason why they didn’t go to prom together, the reason why they didn’t keep in touch.

They were great friends and that was it.

Dave gets off of John and they both try to neaten themselves out. John is buttoning his shirt when he talks again.

“Do you remember when we met?” John asks and he turns to Dave who is trying to pat his hair down.

“I guess I remember a bit.” Dave lies because he remembers a whole lot more than “a bit”.

“God you were such a prissy little bitch about your cape,” John says as he turns the knob of the sink on, wetting his hand. “You gave me a shitload of splinters that day.” He smoothes out Dave’s hair.

“Hey you were the weirdo who followed me around.” John laughs as he tries to fix his own hair.

“I just realized that some of what we said was really close to that one old movie,” He says as he gives up on his hair. “The one with the fox and the asshole with the gun?”

“The Fox and The Hound.” Dave says.

“Yeah, I think it was that one.” John says as he puts his glasses back on. “We made the whole friends forever promise too.” He smiles.

“I wish I could time travel back and just say,” He pauses. “Forever is a long time, and time has a way of changing things.”

John takes Dave’s sunglasses from his collar. “Is that from the movie too?” John slips them on to him.

“I think so.” He lies.

John digs through his pocket and pulls out a calling card, handing it to Dave. 

“That’s my cellphone number, like my actual number and not my business cellphone number,” He says. “It would be really awesome if we kept in touch this time.”

Dave takes a pen from his pocket and he grabs John’s arm, rolling down his sleeve, he writes his number.

“That’s my actual cellphone number too.” He says.

“That means that we’re actually going to talk after this right?” John asks.

“Yeah of course.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

They leave the bathroom and on the way back to the exit and they promise three more times that they would call each other.

They don’t.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic actually started with this [headcanon](http://reptilianblackbird.tumblr.com/post/41671315989/sadstuck-johndave-writing-prompt-dave-installs)  
> i have no fucking clue how it snowballed into this


End file.
